Washington, DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- On Wednesday, May 26th at 10:00 am EDT, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on President Biden’s nomination of anti-gun activist David Chipman to be the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The American Suppressor Association urges all supporters of suppressor rights, and anyone who values hearing safety, to contact your Senators immediately and urge them to oppose his confirmation.
There will be a hearing on Wednesday the 26th.
If approved by the Senate, Chipman will become the Bureau’s first permanent Director since B. Todd Jones resigned in 2015 in the wake of ATF’s attempted regulatory ban of M855 ammunition. As the politically appointed leader of ATF, Chipman would instantly become the most powerful anti-gun advocate in Washington. His ability to weaponize the Bureau against both the firearms industry and the Second Amendment would be unlike anything we have ever seen.
Simply put, we cannot allow David Chipman and his gun and suppressor-banning cronies to run ATF.
Chipman, who currently serves as the Senior Policy Advisor for the anti-gun Giffords group, has a repeated history of making false statements regarding the safety and efficacy of firearm suppressors.
In March of 2017, Chipman made his biased and uneducated position on suppressors clear when he stated;
“Anyone who has worked in law enforcement for as long as I have will tell you that silencers were not designed to protect hearing, they were designed to make it difficult for people to identify the sound of gunfire and locate active shooters. Pretending that silencers are only used for hearing protection is misleading and dangerous. Removing regulations that prevent these weapons from falling into the wrong hands threatens the safety of our communities and will make it more difficult for law enforcement officials to do their jobs.”
In reality, suppressors were invented specifically to reduce the sound signature of firearms in order to make the shooting experience a safer and more enjoyable endeavor.
Nonetheless, in September of 2017, House Democrats chose Chipman to serve as their lead witness in opposition to the SHARE Act, an omnibus bill that contained the Hearing Protection Act in its entirety. During his testimony before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, he falsely claimed that suppressors “mask the sound of a gun, changing the sound into one not easily recognized as gunfire,” and that therefore they could make “assassination-style murders become easier.” These false claims were so outlandish that even the Washington Post’s fact-checker gave them 3 Pinocchios.
For these reasons, the American Suppressor Association strongly opposes Chipman’s nomination as ATF Director.
Let them know you value your rights and your hearing, and don’t want an anti-suppressor activist running the ATF.
About the American Suppressor Association
The American Suppressor Association (ASA) is the unified voice of the suppressor community. We exist for one reason and one reason only: to fight for pro-suppressor reform nationwide.
The ability of the American Suppressor Association to fight for pro-suppressor reform is tied directly to our ability to fundraise. Since the ASA’s formation in 2011, 3 states have legalized suppressor ownership and 18 states have legalized suppressor hunting. Much of this would not have happened without your support. For more information on how you can join us in the fight to help protect and expand your right to own and use suppressors, visit www.AmericanSuppressorAssociation.com.